Citation NR: 9802297
Decision Date: 01/28/98 Archive Date: 02/02/98
DOCKET NO. 95-14 359 ) DATE
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On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis,
Missouri
THE ISSUE
1. Entitlement to service connection for sensorineural
hearing loss.
2. Entitlement to service connection for the residuals of
rupture of the right tympanic membrane.
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: Missouri Veterans Commission
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
Elizabeth Gallagher, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The veteran had active duty from January 1953 to October 1954
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals
(Board) on appeal from a July 1994 rating decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in St.
Louis, Missouri (RO). The veteran appeared at a personal
hearing before a Hearing Officer at the RO in June 1995.
REMAND
The veteran requested, and was scheduled for, a hearing
before a Member of this Board sitting in Travel Board session
at the RO on April 18, 1997. The hearing was canceled at the
veteran’s request as he was too ill to attend. He requested
that his hearing be rescheduled for the next available Travel
Board hearing date. This request was granted by the then
present Member of the Board.
The record does not reflect that a Travel Board hearing has
been rescheduled for this veteran. In order to fulfill VA’s
duty to assist the veteran in developing facts pertinent to
his claim, and to ensure full compliance with due process
requirements, this case is REMANDED to the RO for the
following action:
The RO should schedule a Travel Board
hearing for the veteran, in accordance
with 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(a), and should
notify the veteran and his representative
of the date of such hearing by sending a
letter of notification to the veteran at
his current address then of record, with
a copy to his representative.
Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board, if in
order. The Board intimates no opinion as to the ultimate
outcome of this case. The veteran need take no action until
otherwise notified.
U. R. POWELL
Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals
Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991 & Supp. 1997), only a
decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to
the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is
in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute
a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal.
38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1997).
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